𝓯𝓮𝓮𝓵𝓼 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝔀𝓮'𝓻𝓮 𝓭𝔂𝓲𝓷𝓰

Chapter 10.

❝ you can't ❞

‧̍̊˙˚˙ᵕ꒳ᵕ˙˚˙　10　˙˚˙ᵕ꒳ᵕ˙˚˙‧̍̊

The small trailer home                 words• 5,094
is lit up when they arrive.
white steam is coming from the
cracked kitchen window and the soft tune of the radio drifts outside.
They hear Cheddar bark from the living room window, eager to see who's home.

Richie walks in first, immediately attacked with affection by his dog, "i'm home pops" he calls in a New Yorker accent

Went peaks his head in from the kitchen, he sees Eddie and smiles, "hey kid, how are ya"

"i'm great Mr. Tozier, how are you?" Eddie says in a routinely manner.

Richie comes up behind him and pats his head, "Eds, cut the manners your in a trailer for cryin' out loud. you mind if he stays the night?"

Went worth shakes his head, "not at all, suppers almost done"

Eddie awkwardly follows behind Richie as they go to his room. he never usually spends the night at anyone's house. his mother always says no because you never know someone's own hygiene, and his father was afraid of him being kidnapped in the night. either way he didn't know how to act in someone else's home when he's generously being let stay over unexpectedly. feels rude.

Richie kicks his thin wood door open and reveals his bedroom. it's dark other than the red lava lamp on the dresser and black light hanging on one of the walls. there's posters on almost every inch of wallpaper and even more socks on every inch of carpeting. records are thrown about and the desk is a stack of nicknacks.

Richie dramatically spreads his arms in the air, "welcome to my penthouse."

Eddie tried not to step on anything littered on the ground, "wow... it's so homey."

"yep." Richie pops the 'p', "i'm only in here when i have to be" he lays down on the bed which is a pile of tangled sheets and pillows.

Eddie gingerly sits at the edge of the bed, "so nice... how long have you lived here? almost a month..? and it's looks like... this?"

Richie sat up and scratched his frizzing curls, "my mom use to clean my room. when she stopped i stopped."

Eddie didn't recall seeing a woman on his way in. in fact, he couldn't remember a time Richie had mentioned his mom.

"where's your mom? i want to meet her-"

"she's dead."

Eddie felt guilt sink in his gut, "i'm sorry, i didn't know-"

"nah, don't say sorry." Richie laughs breathily, "i wish you could meet her."

Eddie smiles softly, "can i ask..?"

Richie nodded, "i'll only say a few things. she died from alcohol poisoning- almost 3 months ago now i think? but, her last few years weren't great, she got what she wanted and i'm just happy she could find peace."